DECATUR - Paco is the newest member of the Warrensburg Police Department.

As a green recruit, the 14-month-old Belgian Malanois dog still is subject to at least three months of rigorous training before he will be ready to assume his duties sniffing out narcotics and tracking lost or wanted persons.

Warrensburg Police Chief Greg Wheeler, who will be Paco's handler, and Village President Leland Hackl were among a small group on hand Saturday as Eric Wilson, owner of K-9 Essentials of Charleston, delivered Paco to the village hall.

"There has been talk for a couple of years about getting a K-9 for our department," Wheeler said. "That didn't pan out initially. Then some local dog owners were talking with Wilson recently and a donation got set up."

The addition of the furry cop comes as the village board is struggling to decide whether to downsize the number of full-time, two-legged officers from three to two as a means of holding the line on spending. A recent resignation created the vacancy.

The village board has placed a nonbinding referendum question on the Nov. 4 general election ballot. It states, "Shall the village of Warrensburg continue to employ three full-time police officers?"

Village Trustee Karen Musick, who believes two officers are sufficient, said the question will allow residents a voice in the issue and will be a helpful guide to the board.

"A majority of the village board does not believe we need the third officer but this will give the residents a say," Musick said. "Our police department is doing a fine job. I want to keep it. But at this time with everyone tightening their belts I don't want to raise general fund taxes. We might have to if we don't cut back."

Warrensburg has had a third full-time officer for only about the last 18 months, Musick said. When she returned to the village board in May 2007 (she served two four-year terms in the 1990s), her understanding was the third officer was being added on a trial basis, she said.

The village also has a list of 12 part-time officers that it taps when the full-time personnel are on vacation or ill or when additional personnel are needed to cover shifts. Musick said the part-time people fill in 20 to 50 hours each week.

Hackl said the village has been good at training officers, so good in fact that they have been hired by the secretary of state's police, Macon County Sheriff's Office and departments in Clinton and Maroa.

Wheeler has done a good job in trimming the budget during the past year that he has been chief, Hackl said.

"We are better off with three full-time officers because we do a lot of preventive maintenance," Hackl said. "There are people who have moved out of town because we have a strong police presence here."

The new K-9 unit will not cost the village anything because the dog and his equipment are being donated, Hackl said.

Wheeler said he will be trying to think "outside the box" to put Paco to good use in his small department.

"We want to have a lot of interaction with the community and with children," Wheeler said. "We weren't looking for an attack dog. If we have events, we want the kids to be able to pet the dog."

Wilson said he will be working over the next several months to get Paco used to his handler and to the narcotics detection work. He said the dog will have to "find" drugs between 1,200 and 1,500 times in training before he will be eligible for certification by the North American Police Work Dog Association.

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